Shika Tema Intense Mission
by Laura JN
Summary: Temari is given a very strange, and rather suspicious missioin from her brother, that involves travelling a long way. She takes Shikamaru with her - much to his disliking - and they set off, unaware of the danger ahead.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note:

Hey everyone :) This was my first fanfic, originally uploaded to Deviant art. People liked it on there, so I thought I'd share it with you on here too. The good news is, it means the whole thnng will be uploaded quickly, and the bad news is not in existance lol. Please review and comment on you favourite/ least favourite chapters, and at the end of the fanfic. Hope you like it x

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**Shikamaru and Temari - Intense Mission**

"A WHAT?" Temari screamed at the kazekage,

"Please Temari, you'll give me a headache" replied Gaara,

"Sorry, but… a what?"

"You heard me, I said you will find a partner, go to this address, and learn a song, which you will then perform for a Lord. Our country's ninja are currently occupied in training in defense, so you will go to Konoha village, and find a partner there to stay with you while you rehearse. This could be a trap, so please find someone reliable, but harmless."

"A song… but… Why me?"

"Because…" Gaara began, then hesitated. Temari could have sworn she saw him blush briefly,

"Because… I heard you singing the other day, and you weren't bad." Temari blushed at this. She thought the bathroom walls would be more soundproof. She would never sing in the shower again.

"Anyway, please be on your way… And be careful."

"Yes Gaara." She knelt then disappeared.

She began to walk slowly to Konoha, knowing only one shinobi who was not only harmless, but also lazy, and would keep quiet.

-Later-

On a far off hill, by the hidden leaf village of Konoha, a lazy ninja, and his chubby friend, were laying down on the grass; one of them watching the white fluffy clouds go by, whilst the other of them noisly munched a packet of crisps,

"Man, clouds sure are nice," Shikamaru sighed to himself.

"Nwoh, Portato chwips ware bwedder" His best friend replied with his mouth full.

"But Choji, look at how they just float there, doing nothing all day, but relaxing. No work; that would be so great…"

"Yeah, but clouds can't eat, and I wouldn't like that,"

"True, I can't imagine you going a day without a bag of those," They both laughed.

Just then, a bird flew over.

"Stupid bird," Shikamaru grunted in annoyance, "Temporarily blocking my view of the clouds…" But then, the bird turned around, and landed by his feet. There was a small scroll of paper attached to its right leg.

"What's this?" Shikamaru opened up the scroll and read it, " Oh man, that old lazy wants to see me in her office."

"The Hokage?"

"Yeah, well I'd better see what she's after, see you later Choji."

"See ya!" Choji beamed and waved.

-Meanwhile-

"Shizune!" The hokage barked at her assistant, "Where is that Nara kid?"

"Lady Tsunade! I sent a messenger bird to him, he should be here soon." Shizune was fond of her mistress, but always more than slightly scared of her fiery temper,

"Tsch!" Tsunade spat at the ground. She hated hard work, she'd much rather be out traveling and gambling when she needed more money. She did care about the village though, which is possibly the only reason she convinced herself to stick with her job.

Twenty minutes later a bamboozled, but not really caring, Shikamaru trudged into the room, a sour expression on his face,

"Did I interrupt your favorite hobby?" Tsunade snarled at him,

"Old hag…" He muttered,

"WHAT WAS THAT?" She glared at him and slowly rose from her desk,

"N-Nothing" He retreated, "So what did you want?"

"We have a message from the Kazekage, he says that he is sending one of his top ninja here on their way to a mission, and that they will need to choose a shinobi to go with them to a Lord's mansion, and guard them while they are there."

"Guard them? …Why would the kazekage want them guarded? Unless…" Shikamaru thought for a moment, "Oh no! Oh no please not her! Not again, anything but that… I'll go find someone to go with her," He thought, most work is better than that idea; he would search the whole village if he had to,

"No, I've decided that you will offer to be her guard. Of course, you do have experience escorting this particular shinobi around our village, and you know the surrounding area well, it makes perfect sense,"

"So it is her… damn…" He sighed and yawned loudly, barely covering his mouth with his hand. "How troublesome."


	2. Chapter 2

Shikamaru Nara was slowly eating his lunch, whilst he, and Ino watched Choji gobble up the equivalent of 4 meals, before ordering more food.

"So I hear lady hokage has given you a mission?" Ino probed at Shikamaru,

"Yeah, I have to guard that bitch in some Lord's mansion for a week or so. How will I get to look at the clouds from inside a mansion?"

"Windows?" Choji suggested.

"Great… so I'm stuck in some old guy's house with Temari for over a week… what a drag." He folded his arms onto the table and buried his head in them with a deep sigh.

-later-

Temari arrived at the konoha gates, looking as if she had just strolled a short distance to get there, and went to find the hokage's residence. Shikamaru however, was avoiding the very same place, with as much effort as was needed.

"Hey Ino, Choji, I'm gonna go for a walk, see you guys later,"

"See ya!" they both said, while Ino pulled her left eyelid down and stuck her tongue out at him.

Shikamaru set off in the opposite direction of Tsunade's place, and started to trudge down the road, kicking stones as he went, not really looking where he was going.

As he continued to walk, he thought about how he craved idleness, but always managed to get stuck with the troublesome tasks somehow,

"What next?" he grumbled aloud. Just then, he bumped into something; he really should have been looking where he was going. Whatever it was, fell to the ground, and complained,

"Hey! That hurt… believe it!"

"NARUTO UZUMAKI THAT IS THE MOST ANNOYING CATCHPHRASE IN THE WORLD!!!!" Sakura yelled after Naruto as she caught up with him.

"Oh, sorry about that, hey Naruto, Sakura," Shikamaru greeted them glumly,

"Shikamaru? You sound kind of… bothered. What's up?" Naruto prodded his lazy friend till he answered,

"Urgh… what a drag, I've been given the worst mission ever, I have to take Temari to some old lord's mansion and guard her till she's returns to her village. I really can't be bothered… but I don't have much choice, since the old hag herself 'volunteered' me."

"Temari? Ooooo! I see!" Naruto elbowed him in the ribs a few times and winked.

"Oh please Naruto, grow up, he just said it's the worst mission ever, honestly!" Sakura started to fume, so Naruto backed down,

"Uhh.. Yeah you're right Sakura. Silly me. Of course you don't want to see… err, what's her name again?"

"Sorry Shikamaru, we'll see you some other time," Sakura explained with a cheery facial expression, as she dragged Naruto away by the ear,

"Sakura chan, I'm sorry! Ita-ITAI!! It hurts!!" Shikamaru heard naruto muttering as he stumbled to keep up with Sakura.

Shikamaru sighed deeply, and then carried on with his little moment of thought whilst walking – this time looking where he was going. He got as far as deciding that he would rather eat slime whilst doing press ups, than going on this mission, when he stopped dead in his tracks; horrified by what he saw.

-Slightly Earlier-

Tsunade was sipping tea, when she heard a knock at the door,

"Come in," She said over the cup,

"Hello Lady Hokage, I've arrived. Did you receive my brother's letter?"

"Yes Temari; the kazekage's message got here about 5 hours ago. I have assigned a guardian for you, if you go in a southerly direction from here, you should find him dawdling along the road, probably muttering under his breath."

"Haha, that was quick. I'll catch up easily then, well I'll be off now, we only have four days to get there, so I'll go and find him, thank you, goodbye!" Temari called as she walked straight back out of the door.

-Back to present-

Shikamaru shuddered. He knew EXACTLY what was about to happen, and dreaded every moment.

"Shikamaru Nara, nice to see you again," Temari smiled sweetly at him,

"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to pretend you're happy,"

"Good!" She grabbed him by his chunin jacket collar, "Now you listen to me Nara: If you seriously think that I'm looking forward to this anymore than you do, I can tell you, this is my idea of hell too, so please do me a favor, and keep your lazy mouth shut!"

"Yes ma'am." He shivered again.

"Good, then go now and get ready, I'll give you ten minutes, then we're leaving, I'll meet you by the East gate then."

"Already? I mean.. sure, see you," He hurried off, "Anything to get away from that girl," he muttered under his breath,

"I HEARD THAT!" She growled after him. Shikamaru let out a third shudder, and carried on going.


	3. Chapter 3

- At the gates -

"You're late," Temari called to Shikamaru simply as he arrived eleven minutes later.

"By…" He looked at the nearest clock, "Oh come on, one minute won't hurt,"

"Hmph!" She turned to face the other way, "Come on then, lets go."

"Sure, but first at least tell me where this place is,"

"Err… it's here." She pointed to a large clump of trees on a map.

"In the middle of a forest? How strange… Why would there be a mansion there?"

"I was told it's because the Lord doesn't like visitors, unless they are entertaining, nobody has ever managed to entertain him, and so he tends to ask them to leave as soon as he greets them. He lives in the forest, so that visitors are discouraged from going there, or even finding the place."

"So why are you needed?"

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?"

"Whoa! Calm down, I was merely wondering why a ninja is needed, if the place is that hard to find, and he doesn't like visitors," Shikamaru hid his sighing.

"Oh, I see, well, I've err… been asked to learn a song, and then perform it for him, in the hope that he can be entertained." She looked very embarrassed.

Shikamaru burst out laughing. He actually had to stop walking to stop himself from falling over. Clutching his stomach, he mocked,

"You? Sing? Sorry, but I really can't stop myself." (One deep glare later)

"I'm sure you're a great singer Temari, please excuse my rudeness," he sarcastically apologized. Temari ignored the sarcasm,

"Anyway, now that you have the mission briefing, we need to get going." Temari pinched his ear so that he got up, off of the floor (on which he had been rolling around with laughter) and they continued to follow the path that lead out of the village, and towards the sound country, which they would have to sail round, in order to avoid it.

- Mid evening -

They had been walking towards the Northeast for about three hours of silence, and it was beginning to go dark. They both decided that it would be good to find a place to sleep for tonight, and then in the morning they could set out shortly after breakfast.

Shikamaru pointed to a large tree with thick low branches covered in dark green leaves, and they set up their sleeping bags under that. Temari threatened to kill Shikamaru, or leave him here if he dared wake her up in the night. About an hour later, Temari was fast asleep, and Shikamaru was still awake, which was very unlike him, but he found it very hard to sleep, knowing the long mission ahead. He had already wanted to go back after just one step outside the village, and now he was stuck under a tree with Temari, hours away from home. He yawned and moaned,

"Why me? Someone please tell me." He rolled over from his back, to face away from Temari, and closed his eyes.

Just then, he heard a low, trampling noise, coming from the other side of the tree. He heard it again. It sounded about thirty feet away. Something was coming towards them. Shikamaru carefully sat up, and peered around the side of the tree, just enough, to see a large bear coming towards them, and it looked hungry. Shikamaru wasn't too worried at first, until he realized that his weapons were right where he couldn't reach them; underneath Temari. She didn't trust him enough to let him keep them with him while she was asleep,

"How am I supposed to guard anything without my weapons?" He moaned at her. She snuffed loudly, but just turned over, still asleep. His weapons still out of reach. He couldn't use his any of his shadow techniques, because the sun had gone down, and the moon was not creating enough light for a shadow to appear. His only remaining option was to try and move Temari without waking her. "Easier said than done," he muttered. He carefully knelt beside her, and put his hands under her side, and slowly began to shove her away from her sleeping bag. Then things got worse, at this; she rolled back onto her right, and caught both of Shikamaru's arms under her, with her head now in his lap,

"Great! What now?" He groaned hopelessly.


	4. Chapter 4

Shikamaru slowly removed his right arm from underneath Temari, and grabbed his weapons. Problem two sorted. Problem one chose that moment to come round the corner, and growl at him loudly. It snarled, and reared on its hind legs. Shikamaru didn't move. He pulled Temari in closer with his left hand, and held a kunai knife in his right. The bear saw the knife, and reared again, it looked for an opening in Shikamaru's position, but could only see certain death before it if it dare attack this being. The bear bravely struck a paw at Shikamaru despite this, and managed to cut his left cheek. Shikamaru winced at this and glared at the bear.

The bear stared him down for about five minutes, before finally giving up, and deciding to find an easier meal. It was about to turn around, when it saw the girl in Shikamaru's arms, fast asleep. 'A far easier target' it thought, and turned back to an offensive position.

"Urgh! How can I get rid of you?" Shikamaru helplessly hissed at the bear.

The bear sniffed at him, as if to say that wasn't going to be as easy as he was hoping. It suddenly lunged at Temari and took Shikamaru by surprise. He thought that the bear was going to attack him again so he had swung the kunai knife to the right, when the bear had gone to the left. He had a second to act. He moved in front of Temari, with his kunai in front of him, to face the bear head on.

The next morning, Temari woke, yawned and stretched, sat up right, and started to roll up her sleeping bag, before she noticed that something was missing. "Shikamaru?" She called, annoyed. No reply came, "Shikamaru?" She asked again. Then she noticed the large blood splatters, leading away from where she was standing. Her eyes widened. What had happened? She saw that his sleeping bag was still there, and his weapons were in a rather untidy heap on the floor, having fallen out of their pouch. She felt strange, different in some way. What was this? Fear? She began to follow the blood splatters, "Shikamaru?" She called out for the third time. She was getting impatient now, but still a little afraid of what might be waiting for her. She knew that fear wasn't the right word, but just couldn't put her finger on the right one, so fear would have to do. It certainly left her just as uneasy. She was still following the blood splatters, when she saw that the seemed to end behind the next tree. The feeling soared up. She felt sick almost. She came to the other side of the tree and started trembling slightly. She gulped, and then slowly put her head round to see what was on the other side. She only glimpsed briefly, but what she saw was enough to make her turn away, and sink to the ground. She had seen a body, covered in blood. How could this have happened? What happened exactly? Would she have to take another, closer look to figure it out? She really didn't want to. So she put her head in her hands and just stared at them.


	5. Chapter 5

- A short while later -

"There you are!" A familiar lazy voice called to Temari. She looked up to see Shikamaru walking towards her from the direction she had just come from. "Huh? Are you cry-" He was cut off, because he was surprised to see Temari get up, and embrace him. She put her arms around his neck, and her head against his chest,

"You stupid chunin!" She scolded him in a muffled voice. He didn't reply, mainly because he was still in shock, but also because he was trying to understand what was going on. Why was she crying? Why was she over here, and not where he had left her? He was only gone for a few minutes. He had just gone for a short stroll.

"W-What's wrong? Something happen?"

"I thought you were dead! There's a body over there, what else am I supposed to think, if I find you gone, and blood leading to a corpse?"

"Oh… well… sorry about that, but I don't see how you could mistake me for a bear, I'm not that large." Temari let go of him and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand,

"Yeah you're right; you're far to scrawny. You need to get some muscle on you."

She laughed, and they walked back to their sleeping bags.

The forest around them was filled with tall trees with thick out-stretching branches covered in jagged leaves. There were almost no bushes now, but the tree roots stuck out of the ground rather unhelpfully, so the two had to watch their step. Shikamaru tripped occasionally whilst Temari never once lost her footing. They continued to walk on through the forest in silence until it was time to eat. They sat down and got out they're lunch, and began to eat. Shikamaru had hurriedly put together some sandwiches before leaving, whilst Temari had some of the finest of her country's cuisine in a tasty looking wrap. Shikamaru tried to hide his jealousy. He instead wondered why she had been crying. Even if she had thought he was dead, wasn't that over-reacting a bit? She didn't like him. The only two possibilities remaining, he thought, were that she must either have a secret soft side, or was afraid of going back on her own. She had hugged him, which suggested the first option, but it was highly unlikely. Being a girl, it was more likely that she wanted an escort. Shikamaru always did have a rather sexist opinion.

After eating, they got up, and started walking again, Shikamaru still puzzled. He hated hard work, and this was really annoying him. He had an IQ of 200, why could he not figure this out? He sighed deeply. Temari noticed this,

"What now? You know if you keep moaning like this, it isn't going to make this mission any better." She explained, slightly irritated,

"I know that, that's not what I'm sighing about,"

"You've found something else wrong? Great."

"Actually, I was trying to figure something out, but never mind, I don't really care anymore: it's too much of a drag." He put his hands in his pockets.

"…Fine then, don't think to tell me. I won't bite your head off!"

"Yes you will,"

"Hey!" Temari's face turned to more of a scowl, "I'm not that touchy, if your going to be like this, then I don't see why I should care either,"

"Fine.." Shikamaru looked unbothered,

"Hmph!" Temari clearly was touchy. She was very annoyed at this. He didn't have to point out her every weakness. Why was she letting this brat get to her? They didn't talk again.

- Six hours later -

It was nighttime, and they had come a long way. They were coming to the borders of the fire country and the sound country, by the east cost. They would soon be finding a boatman to take them around the sound county, to the lightning country. They walked to the docks in silence, and Shikamaru went to find a boatman, while Temari waited. She felt better once he had gone. It was a far less tense atmosphere, and it would give her some time to check her hair in her mirror.

Shikamaru returned about ten minutes later with a tall man, in his mid fifties.

"The name's Tenjou," He showed them to a fairly large boat, big enough to hold about thirty passengers and a crew for a short voyage. They climbed on board, and he then told them that he would show them to their rooms, then they were free to explore the ship,

"WE'RE SHARING A ROOM?" Temari yelled, "WHY? This ship's large enough for _at least_ ten other rooms!"

"Well actually, below deck is the ships hold, theres only old rum shelves and storage down there, and most of the space upstairs is for dining, and of course there's my office, my room, and my cabin, the cook's cabin and the kitchen, so actually there's only one passenger room. You see this used to be a pirate ship… so I bought it because it looked cool… but it means I can only take a few passengers at a time."

"I'd rather sleep with the cook." Temari muttered.


	6. Chapter 6

"Thank you Tenjou" Shikamaru tried to lighten the mood, "We'll make do with this room."

"Very well, I'll be off to my cabin then, someone's got to steer this thing. Good night."

"Night." Shikamaru replied, steering Temari in the opposite direction.

"What are you doing, unhand me!"

"You were very rude to him you know. He doesn't get customers often, and he offered to take us to the lightning country for only twenty Ryo."

"Again with the lectures! At least I don't moan about you! They way you whine about things, anyone would think you didn't give a damn about them." She stormed off to their room and slammed the door behind her, "You can sleep on the floor outside!" She called to him.

Shikamaru stared after her, annoyed at the situation again,

"How troublesome" he thought. He didn't mean to hurt her, he just felt sorry for Tenjou and thought he deserved some respect. Temari's temper was the main reason he had been dreading this mission. She usually had smart comebacks, and didn't take things so seriously, but recently she had been getting irritated by everything he said. "What brought this on? I didn't do anything wrong. I apologized about the bear incident." He wracked his brain for answers, but none came.

When he got back to the room, after a short stroll round the boat, he hesitated, then knocked on the door,

"Temari? Please let me in." He had hoped to get away with this without apologizing, but that didn't seem likely to be the case,

"No! Go away, I told you to sleep on the floor."

"Look, Temari, I- I'm sorry I had a go at you. I know I shouldn't complain so much; I'll try not to." No reply came, "Fine then… I'll sleep outside the door."

"Good!" Came from inside the room. Shikamaru was scared by how good her hearing was, he would have to be careful where he muttered.

The boat swayed this way and that, as it made it's way across the ocean. Shikamaru had no difficulty sleeping this time however, because he was exhausted from the night before, and had been worrying about the tension between him and Temari all day. The night before he had had to lug the bear out of sight, and then find his way back, all in the dark. That had taken at least two hours. He hadn't known that there were blood tracks until he saw them the following morning when he got back to find Temari missing. It had been too dark before.

Despite this, he still managed to wake in the middle of the night. He wondered why, and was about to go back to sleep, when he heard a scream coming from the other side of the door,

"Temari?" He knocked on the door,

"Help me!" She screamed. She sounded terrified. Shikamaru tried to open the door, but it was locked. He kicked at the door, but it wouldn't budge, so he went back a few steps, and rammed himself into the door, several times, until it finally come down.

Temari screamed again. Shikamaru came into the room to see her pinned to the floor by a rather familiar looking large bear.

"What the hell?" Shikamaru half shouted half groaned. He jumped on top of the bear, which was wrestling with Temari, and got out a kunai knife to slit its throat. However at Shikamaru's sudden appearance, the bear had been startled, and was now rearing on its hind legs, trying to shake him off. Temari scrambled to her feet, and backed into a corner, while Shikamaru tried to kill the bear, whilst holding on for dear life. He swung the kunai knife this way and that, but the bear kept jerking so that he missed every time. He cut one of the bear's ear off, and it jeered in pain. It rolled over onto it's back, trying to squash him, but Shikamaru took the opportunity to attack, once the bear was on him. Yet still the bear writhed, trying to get rid of Shikamaru.


	7. Chapter 7

Meanwhile, Temari had picked up her giant fan, and now held it high above the bear, she swung it down at the bear like a sword, and lunged it into the beast's chest. It growled in pain and thrashed about some more, before finally coming to a stand still. Shikamaru panted and then sighed deeply. The bear was still on top of him, and he tried to move it, but it was just too heavy from the position he was in. Temari removed her weapon and put it to the side, then tried to heave the bear off of him. Together, they finally managed to shove it to the side, so that Shikamaru could escape.

"What on earth was a bear doing on a ship?" Temari enquired,

"How am I supposed to know? Its really similar to the one I killed the other day though." The bamboozlement overwhelmed him at that point. He had so many complications and puzzles on his mind that it really took him out. He collapsed onto the floor, and held his head in his hands. He took one look at the bear, and one look at Temari, lay back, and fell asleep straight away.

Temari was almost as confused as he was. She climbed carefully over the bear, and pushed the door back onto it's hinges, then went back over the bear, and tried to drag Shikamaru onto his sleeping bag. She was thankful for him coming to save her, but that was part of his mission after all. It's not like he cared what happened to her really. Once she had got him onto his sleeping bag, she noticed something on his left cheek. She looked closer, and saw the scar that had been left from the cut he received from the bear the previous day.

She knelt down beside him to take a closer look, and leant over him in order to peer at it. It was quite deep by the looks of it, but it was a clean cut, so the bear must have attacked quickly; but why hadn't he dodged it? He wasn't _that_ much of an amateur. She didn't understand this. She was about to get up, when Shikamaru reached up, felt where she was, and grabbed her.

He pulled her closer to him, and put his arms around her. She had been caught by surprise. He was still asleep, but for some reason he had known she was there. Either that, or he did very strange things in his sleep. He was probably dreaming about something perverted she thought. She tried to get up, but he tightened his hold on her. She was stuck. She tried several other methods of escape, but all failed. She had no choice but to sleep where she was.

She tried to find a way to get comfortable like this, but it was very difficult. She ended up putting her arms on the floor, either side of his. The good news was he didn't snore, or breathe to heavily. Still not as comfortable as her sleeping bag, but at least he was warm.

In the morning, Shikamaru woke to find several strange things going on. Number one: There was a girl on top of him, and he had his arms around her. Number two: There was a dead bear in the corner of the room. And number 3: He could not remember where he was. Then he rubbed his eyes, and realized he was on the boat, and this strange girl on top of him was Temari, and the bear in the corner was probably the most explainable of the three strange things. What on earth was Temari doing there? Then he realized it was _him_ who had had his arms around _her_. Was this his fault? Was he going to get an earful about this later?

He decided the easiest way to handle this, was to pretend he didn't know. He would pretend to be asleep, wake Temari, and then when she was gone, he could get up. He closed his eyes and rolled over to the side. No response. He rolled back, and tried tugging her hair slightly. That did the trick. He let his arm go limp, then waited.

Temari yawned quietly, then tried to stretch, but to know avail. She carefully moved Shikamaru's arms to the side, which were now far easier to move, and looked at his face. The scar was still there, but he had a much more peaceful expression on his face. She felt a sudden surge of curiosity, and reached out to touch it. She didn't care if it woke him, it was his own silly fault for grabbing her, and he had had enough sleep now. As she stroked it with her fingers, Shikamaru winced slightly. He hoped that would just look like it was due to the pain.

Temari then leant in slightly closer to take another look, seeing that he had not woken. As she did so, she noticed her heart beat faster. She turned to look at the rest of his face. The crease between his eyebrows, the soft curve of his cheeks, and his potent jaw line caught her attention. She moved her hand over his face, and he caught it.


	8. Chapter 8

Shikamaru didn't know what he was doing. He had not ordered his body to do this. It just moved on it's own accord. He put his right arm back around her, and rolled her to the left, so that he ended up on top of her. Then his eyes opened. Temari had a slightly startled, mostly dazed expression on her face. It was not one that he was used to. His eyes were still heavy, and were only half open. Everything was still a bit blurry. He had no strength yet, not to get up. Instead, he sort of relaxed where he was.

Temari still kept silent, she was confused, surprised, but in a daze. She herself had only just woken up, and she didn't really understand what Shikamaru was doing. Shikamaru didn't understand either: but for some reason his heart was beating faster. He started to breathe deeper, and he tightened his hold on her a little. His body was still moving on its own. If he was wider-awake, he would have more control, but he just couldn't stop himself. His face was an inch away from hers. Temari put a hand to his face, and pulled it to hers. Shikamaru was more awake now, a little too late. Her lips were like soft petals against his. He caressed her lips with his, whilst holding her face in his right hand, and her side with the other.

Even though he was fully awake now, he did not stop. He had lost all control. He was not possessed, and he hadn't become a puppet over night, so there was only one remaining explanation, even though he didn't like it one bit. He must be enjoying this. Judging from the fact that she wasn't resisting, she must have been too. Either that, or she was too scared to move. He moved away from her lips, to her neck instead. He kissed his way slowly up that, while he heard her whimper slightly. That was all he needed to hear.

He moved back to her lips for a few more seconds, and then put his head over her left shoulder. He would pretend to have been asleep the whole time. And that he didn't remember any of this. If it scared her, he didn't want to look guilty whenever he saw her. So he would let her move him off of her.

Temari was more dazed than ever. She noticed that Shikamaru had gone limp, and wondered what had happened,

"Shikamaru?" He didn't reply. She rolled him off of her, back onto his sleeping bag. What was all that about? What had come over him? She felt a strange pain in her chest, when she realized he must have been asleep still. She would have to pretend that none of this had happened. That suited her just fine. She stood up, and yelled,

"SHIKAMARU YOU LAZY BUM! GET UP!" He sat bolt upright, having already been awake, but this was not what he had expected. It would have been more convincing to yawn, or mutter to her to go away. Instead, he blinked up at her, then made something up,

"Huh? Oh Temari it's you. What's the rush? Is there another bear in the room?"

"Of course it's me! Who else? No there's no bear, I just hate the site of you snoring away while I'm working."

"Snore? Working? I don't snore… And what do you mean working? Has Tenjou given you some paper work?" He laughed at her.

"Urgh!" She thumped him on the shoulder then left the room,

"What a pain!" He said loud enough for her to hear. She slammed the door.

Shikamaru was pleased that he'd pulled it off, but it didn't stop him from feeling guilty. She must have been terrified to not even move. He was a ninja, but he was no expert on relationships. He could only hope that she wouldn't hold a grudge. Not that she cared probably. So long as it didn't happen again.

He got up and stretched, finally able to do so properly. He crossed the room slowly, and climbed over the bear. What was that thing doing on the ship anyway? He would have a word with Tenjou about that,

"If I meet another bear, can it be a friendly, or lazy one next time please?" He muttered.

Temari, Shikamaru, Tenjou, and the cook, all sat around a small round table in the kitchen, eating breakfast. Tenjou told them that they would reach the land in a few hours, and that they could pay him when he came to collect them at the end of the week. They thanked him, and then went out onto the deck to have a look at the view.

The sky was clear blue, and the water was fairly calm. They could not see the land yet, but they knew they would be able to soon. They didn't look at each other once, but both were thinking of the other, totally confused.


	9. Chapter 9

When they reached the land, they went to get their bags, and then thanked Tenjou again before leaving the ship. The landscape ahead of them was rocky, with trees everywhere, but it was not as thick as the forest, and the trees were shorter, and far lighter in colour.

They climbed up the nearest rock face, and then started walking again. They would be there in about four hours if they didn't stop. After about an hour, as they were walking, Temari suddenly stopped,

"Shush! Be quiet a sec, what's that?" They both listened. In the distance, they could hear strange noises. They kept alternating. One sounded like a human man's voice, the other like mass destruction. They wondered if they should go around this obscurity, or see what it was. Despite being lazy, even Shikamaru was curious. They crept through the forest, until they got to where the noises were coming from. They hid behind a large rock, and listened,

"Take that!" Boom! "And that!" Boom! "AND THAT!" The annoyed voice continued in a similar way for a while, before they heard panting, followed by snickering. Shikamaru peered around the edge of the rock, to see something very odd.

Kakashi was reading his latest volume of _'Icha-Icha Paradise'_, and was in a world of his own. He was sitting on a rock in the middle of… more rocks. Shikamaru looked to his left, and saw a battered looking boulder, with many, many holes in it. This explained the crashing sounds. He tried not to laugh, but wondered what Kakashi was doing in a place like this, in the lighting country. He got up and started to walk over to where Kakashi was. Temari followed,

"Hey Kakashi, didn't expect to see you here," Shikamaru greeted him

"Huh? Oh hi Shikamaru, Temari" He put his book down and smiled at them, "I was on my way back from a mission, but thought I should take a quick break, get some stuff off my chest, you know." He scratched the back of his neck, whilst wincing, knowing he had been caught slacking off.

"Haha! That's okay Kakashi, I won't tell on you, I'm the one who always used to cut classes at ninja academy remember?"

"Oh yes, so you were. Well anyway, where are you off to?"

"We're on our way to a mission. It's nothing too difficult, wanna tag along?" Shikamaru would be glad of Kakashi's company to lighten the mood.

"Umm… well I'd like to but…"

"You know Tsunade will just send you off on another boring mission if you go back…" Shikamaru tried to persuade him. It worked,

"Oh all right then, I don't see why not," he got up. The three of them walked on through the rocky forest, and they all talked more,

"So what exactly is this mission you've been given?" Kakashi asked, in the light and friendly mood Shikamaru had hoped for. Temari explained how he brother had given her this mission, and how she had to sing for him, and Shikamaru was her guard.

Kakashi then told them about the mission he had just had. It sounded for more interesting then their one. He had been tracking a large creature with sharp claws and teeth. It had been causing trouble in a village, further to the north. He had not found it though. It would seem that it left when he arrived,

"Sharp claws and teeth? Sounds like a wolf or bear." Shikamaru probed,

"Yes, I think it was most likely a hungry bear. Apparently it kept attacking the villagers, some of them killed, but it always left they're bodies as they were… it didn't eat them, which is why it needed investigating. A bear wouldn't attack unless it was hungry or felt threatened."

"I wonder if it has anything to do with those bears that attacked us?" Temari wondered out loud,

"I think it might do. How it got onto the ship, let alone in your room with the door locked…"

"There was a bear on the ship? How strange… You said bears? As in the plural; how many others attacked you?" Kakashi looked thoughtful,

"Two in total, the one on the ship, and one in the forest." Shikamaru informed him. Temari forgot to ask what happened with the bear that night. She had slept through the whole thing, so had no idea what happened. She couldn't bring herself to ask though. She would have to hope that Shikamaru would tell her of his own accord,

"That is really odd. Why are these bears acting so strange?" They all thought about this as they continued walking.

The mansion towered before them; it's dark purple walls, and black roof tiles. There were stone sculptures of bears either side of the front gate. They all stared at it; nobody could miss the scornful look on each of their faces.


	10. Chapter 10

They walked up to the gates, and Temari went to the side, to ring the buzzer,

"This is Temari Sabaku, I'm here about the mission?" They waited. There was no reply, but the gates slowly creaked open. They're facial expressions were all scornful. They were half expecting to see pumpkins and bats next, but instead, as they walked along the stone cobbles, they saw a hand reach up out of the ground, which then proceeded to grab Shikamaru's foot. They stared at it for a moment, but Shikamaru just shrugged it off with a few kicks,

"Blatantly plastic," he announced,

"What's with all these Halloween get ups?" Temari quizzed him,

"Well if this Lord wants to be entertained, I suppose they're trying as many different methods as possible. This is a bit corny though." He pointed, as a hologram of a ghost came up in front of them,

"Bleh!" It said, from a small microchip in the ground. They ignored it, and walked right through it. Kakashi kept silent, mainly because he was reading whilst walking, but also because he was used to childish pranks – mostly from Naruto, but also certain adults. Guy sensei was always trying to beat him, and managed it occasionally. Kakashi wasn't lazy, he just wasn't competitive, and he had no real enthusiasm for such trivial things - in contrast with Shikamaru, who always won his games of shogi, lazy or not.

They avoided several other 'attacks' on their way to the front doors of the mansion, and weren't surprised to see, that there really were some pumpkins there; even though it was early spring. They all looked at each other, and nodded, before Shikamaru knocked on the door. It opened of it's own accord, which in return received more scornful looks,

"No wonder this Lord is so un-entertained…" They all thought. The one thing Shikamaru and Temari were glad of, was this strange distraction from recent events. When they stepped into the entrance hall, they all stared. Unlike outside, it was modern, and crisp. Everything was angled perfectly, the chairs, the pot plants, they shelves with their few little glass ornaments. They may as well have just walked into a posh hotel.

The doors closed behind them, and they looked around the room. Kakashi just stood in the middle of the room, making the most of the free time with his book,

"Hello?" Temari called. Then a tall, sharp looking man entered the room. He had a condescending look about him, with a stiff upper lip, large blue eyes, and waxed black hair. He was dressed as a turn of the century butler, and had small round spectacles perched on his nose, neatly tucked behind his ears,

"This way, if you please," He said sharply, "Don't dawdle," he snapped at them. They all felt very patronized, and the contemptuous looks did not escape their faces. They followed him along a long corridor, lined with strange, bright, colourful, abstract pictures of… well they couldn't tell what they were. The floor was covered in an auburn shiny gloss that ran the length of the corridor, and matched too well with the icy plain blue of the walls. At the end of this corridor, they found themselves in another corridor, this one lined with doors. He pointed each of them to their rooms. There seemed to be many other free rooms – probably due to the complete absence of the visitors they were made for.

Temari walked into her room; the walls were aqua, and the floor a light wooden surface. There were teal curtains framing a rectangular window in front of the four-poster double bed. There was a blue armoire to her right, and a green dressing table to her left. Upon which sat an ovular lilac framed mirror. She had to admit, she was in love with this room. It looked so comfortable, yet suited her wonderfully. She put down her fan, and went over to test out the bed. It sagged just slightly under her weight – enough to allow her to feel cushioned, yet stable,

"Perfect!" She exclaimed. She was thoroughly impressed. Had they read her mind before she arrived?

"OH MY LORD!!!!" She heard someone shout from across the hallway. She went to see what the fuss was. Nothing usually made Shikamaru shout. She opened his door, to see him staring out of his window at the view. He had a huge grin on his face.

"What's going on?" She asked him. Wondering what the fuss was about. His room was a lot more plain than hers, a low, well padded bed in the middle of the room, and a set of draws to the right of it. A mirror hung on the wall just by the door. She went over to see what he was looking at, but only saw the sky. And there were lot's of fluffy white clouds there. All in really strange shapes.

Shikamaru continued to gaze at them, and then realized, as he looked behind him, that the window was angled, just so that the clouds could be viewed from the bed. He was in lazy man's heaven.

"What is this? How do they know what we most want in a room, before we even get here?"

"Huh? You like this kind pf thing too?"

"No silly, mine is totally different… It's… perfect."

"Oh… lets see." He followed her back out into the hall, then into her room. He stared at the contrast in style.

"Weird…"

"What?"

"Your sense of style…" He swiftly received a loud smack to his jaw.


	11. Chapter 11

About ten minutes later, the tall snooty man came back to tell them that lunch was ready, and that any questions they had could be asked there, once one of the Lord's servants had explained some things to them.

They followed him back along the corridor, then along the colourful one again, back into the modern entrance hall, then they turned left, and went up some steps, then left again, and along yet another corridor. This one was white, and all the paintings on the wall had a snowy theme to them. They then went through some double doors and into another corridor lined with visitor's rooms, but this time went right to the end, and into the furthest room. It was a small dining hall; fit far any king that wasn't too fussy. The table had enough room for about fifty odd guests, but the four of them all bunched up at one end, felt very awkward.

The man, who still hadn't introduced himself, left the room then with one word of,

"Wait," and left through another pair of doors, to what must have been the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later. Followed by three other servants, each with a covered plate in their hands. They placed them gracefully in front of them, to reveal their lunch. They were all slightly startled, as this food, was not exactly what they had been expecting; Each had their favorite meal laid out in front of them.

They were all in awe, but Shikamaru and Temari shortly turned to stare at Kakashi's plate of food, which he began to drink from a spoon. They stared down at their food, and then at their chopsticks, and then back to Kakashi,

"Something wrong?" He asked them, slightly amused,

"Is that milk?" Shikamaru asked first,

"Why yes, it's full of calcium you know, great for your bones." He looked away and began to drink the milk from the spoon again. Shikamaru and Temari stared at him for a while, before slowly turning their heads back to their own plates of food, which were just too irresistible to leave for long.

They ate, and then once their plates had been removed, a small blonde boy came into the room. He plonked himself into a chair in front of them, and smiled up at them all,

"Hello! My name's Kichi, and this is Ichinose." He pointed to himself then to the tall butler, 'and what are your names?" He continued to smile up at them, filled with enthusiasm,

"I'm Kakashi, one of the leaf villages Jounin, and this is Temari, and Shikamaru." He explained,

"Nice to meet you Kaka chan, Tema chan, Shika chan! Are you enjoying yourselves?"

"Shika chan?" Shikamaru said low enough so that Kichi couldn't hear,

"I LOVE my room," Temari and Kakashi said at the same time. Shikamaru and Temari wondered what on earth Kakashi's room was like. It wasn't just his mask on his face that confused them. He had somehow even managed to eat without them noticing him taking it off… but he had drunk all of the milk. They pondered these strange thoughts, and then Shikamaru asked Kichi,

"So how did you know what to put in the rooms? They were too accurate to have been coincidence."

"Genjitsu!" He smiled and blinked at them through his large, light green eyes,

"I'm not a real ninja, but I was taught some genjitsu techniques since I was little."

"You still are little." They all thought.

"But now that I'm sixteen, I can do them quite well. The food was my doing too," He smiled up them still.

"SIXTEEN?" Temari blurted out, "Sorry, but, I thought you were younger than that,

"Haha! I'll bet; I get that a lot. Don't worry about it." He was very amused by this all. 'If only the Lord was this easily entertained' Temari sighed. She hoped Shikamaru's laziness wasn't rubbing off on her,

"Anyway," Kichi continued, "I use genjitsu to make everything to appear to be exactly how your subconscious would like it to be. When actually it is rather plain. The things in your room for example," He pointed to Kakashi, "Do not actually look like that, but there is actually a bed where you saw one, and a mirror on the wall, and a wardrobe to the right, as in every room. Only the women and couple's rooms have dressing tables instead." Kakashi looked slightly disappointed, but was grateful for the vision nevertheless. Shikamaru and Temari's imaginations ran wild at what it must look like. They would have to peek at it at some point.

"Thanks Kichi. Does that not tire you after a while though?"

"Huh? Nope! I only have to do it while you can see the room. While your sleeping, and while your not there, I can relax. But I'm so used to it, it wouldn't phase me if there were three hundred of you." He continued to smile. They're scornful expressions returned.


	12. Chapter 12

Kichi explained to them where Temari would be practicing her song, and where Kakashi could go to relax if he chose to. Shikamaru had to stay with Temari at all times while she was rehearsing though,

"Lucky me," he smirked, on his way back to his room. He had an hour before Temari would knock on his door to tell him she was going to sing. He would make the most of that time, looking at the pretend clouds outside the window. He wondered why the decorations outside were so bad if Kichi was capable of all this. Perhaps it was because they all wanted the tension relived from them, and that fitted all of their wants? If it hadn't been so corny, it would have frightened them. So what did this place really look like? The entrance hall had looked like a hotel reception, which is what they all wanted – a hotel; and the corridor had been more cheery, which is what they had needed – cheering up. Then a corridor filled with rooms. Which is exactly what they wanted. Maybe the whole building had something to do with Kichi's gentitsu? Shikamaru shuddered when he realized how powerful this guy must be. He was a year older than Shikamaru, but looked like an eight year old.

Shikamaru thought about all this, but finally managed to loose himself in the clouds slowly rolling past, at his desired pace, only to be interrupted. He heaved a sigh, and then went to the door, thoroughly satisfied with his alone time though. He opened the door to find Temari looking rather eager,

"I'm sorry, I just can't keep it in any longer, let's see what Kakashi's room looks like!" Shikamaru let a grin appear on his face, and nodded, before they went to Kakashi's room and knocked on the door,

"Kakashi?" Temari called,

"Hai?" He called from the room, as if it was likely to be room service,

"Can we see what your room looks like? If you don't m-" She was cut off, as Kakashi opened the door the tiniest distance from the wall, and pulled a scary face,

"Definitely not. You wouldn't like what you saw." There was an evil looking glint in his eyes that neither of them liked. No wonder nobody dared ask what was under his mask usually. Naruto and Sakura had told them that it was another mask, but what was underneath that? Did he even have a mouth? Or was it beaver lips… Nobody knew but him. They walked away in defeat, and Temari decided that as they were up, they might as well go to the rehearsal studio.

They followed Kichi's directions along many corridors and up a flight of stairs, until they found a black door with a big, golden, sparkly star on it saying 'Rehearsal studio' and they entered to see a large room, with a smooth black floor, black wall paper on the walls, and a light that came on as they entered. There was also a music stand in the middle of the room, with a book on it, and a wireless headset.

"I'm impressed." Temari began to gain some enthusiasm for the idea, but she was a little nervous about singing in front of anyone still. Shikamaru went to sit on the floor, while Temari went over to the music stand to take a look at the book. She put on the headset, and found a small control on the side of the stand. There was a 'play', 'pause', 'record', 'wipe', and 'demo' button on it. She pressed the demo button, which then announced through the head set,

"Melodies and Vocal rhythms, page 24, '_Snow Kiss_," Temari immediately turned to page 24 in the book, as the song began to play. She read the lyrics as it played. She was mesmerized a little by the tone, which didn't suit the words too well, but really caught her attention. She saw that the song was by a group named 'Nirgilis' and she read a bit about them and the song.

Temari looked nervously over at Shikamaru. The notes weren't too hard for her. She'd have them nailed in the week she had to practice the song, but at least to start with, she couldn't have Shikamaru listening,

"Umm, hey Nara!"

"Hmn?"

"Could you err… cover your ears please?"

"…Okay then…" He put his hands to his ears lazily,

"Could you hold them down a little harder? So you can't hear anything?" She persisted. He put an index finger in either ear,

"Happy?" he smirked. She nodded at him. She played the song over one more time, before pressing the play button. The instrumental version of the song started up, and she listened out for the timing. When she started singing it the second time around, she gazed over to Shikamaru to check that he couldn't hear. He was gazing off to his right, not looking at anything in particular. He didn't appear to be listening. His fingers were still firmly in place.

Temari practiced the song about ten times, before pausing, to listen to the demo again. She did this twice more, before she had all the words memorized and most of what the notes should sound like. She was mostly in tune now. She just needed to add a bit of variation in her voice, and get the song perfected. She decided to call it a day, and went over to pull Shikamaru's fingers out of his ears, as he had now fallen asleep,

"Come on you fat lump!" She prodded him. He didn't move. She sighed and knelt down so that she could shake him by the shoulders,

"GET UP LAZY!" She shook him so hard, that he jumped, and leapt forwards. He landed right on top of her,

"Shi- Shikamaru?" She flushed. She knew this would only lead to an awkward tension again,

"Huh? Oh sorry!" He said as he realized what was going on. He hesitated just slightly, but he got up, and helped Temari to her feet, "Sorry about that." He apologized again. He was feeling guilty again, hoping he hadn't begun to scare her.


	13. Chapter 13

As they walked back to the room, Shikamaru tried to lighten the mood again,

"So what was the song like? Any good?" He was glad of the subject to talk about. Having been totally unable to think of one earlier,

"It wasn't bad. The tune was lovely. You don't have to cover your ears next time, I've got most of the notes down now."

"Already? That was fast. I'm impressed." He added, trying to keep things light,

"Well… I do sing a bit… in my spare time." She blushed a little,

"I see… so by the end of the week it should be perfected right?"

"Right. If I practice with you listening, then I can get used to having an audience. If Kakashi listens too on the next day… then anyone else who wants too…" She trailed off. It wouldn't be to hard in front of Kichi, but Ichinose was another story. Maybe one of the other servants? She would have to think about this.

They all went to sleep that night, very comfortable, and very at ease in their rooms. Well… they would have if it weren't for everything on their minds. Kakashi was thinking about his previous mission and how suspicious this bear business was – Although hat didn't stop him from going out like a light about ten minutes after he got over it. Temari was pondering the song, and wondering why she was getting nervous about singing in front of Shikamaru. Shikamaru on the other hand, was still feeling guilt swim around him. He hated this feeling, and it was not one that he was very used too. He hadn't felt like this since the mission to recover Sasuke failed. That was over two years ago though. The feeling was still alien to him. It made his head hurt, and he was about to go to find some water, when he noticed the moonlight suddenly vanish. The room was pitch black for a moment, and then he realized why. There was a large dark figure in front of him,

"Not another freaking bear!" He groaned as he reached for his weapons. They were gone. He clapped on the light. The bear launched itself at him, but he rolled out of the way. The bed was destroyed in the process, and Shikamaru hit the floor next to it. He searched around the room for his weapon pouch with his eyes. He had put it right next to his bed. Where had it gone? Somehow, he always managed to either be unable to get at his weapons, or unable to use them once he had found them. And how ironic, that it was always at night, when he couldn't use his shadow possession jutsu or any other he was capable of for that matter. He darted for the door, knowing better than to risk hand-to-hand combat with a large inexplicable phenomenon of a bear appearing out of nowhere.

He almost had the door handle in his grasp when the bear caught him round the waist in a tight grip. He now hated bear hugs. The bear dropped him back onto the floor in the corner farthest away from the door. He felt pathetic knowing he needed help, but the bear then growled loudly, and snarled at him, doing the job for him. It had him pinned down with its paws, and his face was already inches from the bears. Shikamaru struggled to get free, but he failed utterly. The bear took a snap at him, but Shikamaru managed to tilt his head far enough for the bear to miss. He could feel the bear's hot breath on his face. It paralyzed him for a moment. Now he knew how the deer back home felt when they were under similar danger. Back in Konoha there were no bears though. Only the occasional stray wolf. Kiba and his family always kept their pack under control, so it was only the wild ones that were of any threat. But here Shikamaru was, in a mission, in doors, being attacked by an overgrown grizzly. For the third time,

"This had better be the last," He grumbled. As the bear lunged at him again, this time getting him on the shoulder. Shikamaru cried out in pain. The bear had bitten deep into his right shoulder, and had yet to let go.

Shikamaru called out again as the pain really sunk in, along with the bear's teeth. Temari then burst into the room, blood dripping from her left hip, where there were some deep teeth marks. Her fan was covered in blood too, and she ran over to the brawl that was the bear and Shikamaru, she jumped on top of it, and used her fan as a large sword again. She couldn't just blow it away, not indoors. The bear growled and whimpered, then collapsed on top of Shikamaru. He yelped as the bear's head his him in the shoulder. He tried so hard to keep it in, but it was no use. He gasped as he shoved the bear's head away with his unharmed arm. Temari helped to pull him out from under the bear, and the pain eased just a little, as the bear's teeth had finally left him, and he was back on his feet.

Before Temari could say anything, Shikamaru's hand went to her hip and a drop of blood landed in his palm. His hand tightened into a fist, even though it made his shoulder worse again. He couldn't believe he had let this happen. He had been so naive to think that it was safe to leave Temari on her own anymore. Then he remembered Kakashi. He grabbed Temari's hand and they both ran to Kakashi's room. Shikamaru was about to knock on the door when Kakashi opened it,

"No you can't come in, and yes I did just kill a bear." He looked at them both, then at their hands. Shikamaru let go immediately, embarrassed.

"So did we." Temari replied, "Two in fact."

"Really? Did yours appear out of nowhere too?"

"Yeah. I didn't see how it got there, it just… wasn't there one moment, and was blocking out the window the next," Shikamaru pondered, "Kakashi, please can you investigate while Temari and I are in the rehearsal studio tomorrow? You saw the bear statues outside. It's more than a little ironic. In fact… you'd think that no one was that stupid,

"Understood. I'll be as inconspicuous as possible."

Kakashi shut the door again. Shikamaru was about to go back to his room, when he remembered he had to stay with Temari. It was unlikely that there would be an attack twice in one night, and they had been following a pattern of once a night, but he didn't want to take any chances. He walked over to Temari,


	14. Chapter 14

"Uhh… I'm supposed to be your guard, and I'm failing miserably so far," He nodded toward he hip, "I think I should stay in your room." Temari wondered for a moment if he was going to try anything again, then remembered he was half asleep the first time, and it was an accident the second,

"Err… maybe you'd better." She opened the door, and they walked in. Shikamaru went to sleep in the corner, while Temari got back into her comfy four-poster. Shikamaru's bed was broken anyway, so it's not like he was missing out.

Later that night Temari woke at a small noise. She could see Shikamaru shivering in the corner, his eyes heavy, and his arms around his middle. She pulled the duvet to one side,

"Alright Mr. Wimp, you can sleep on that side of the bed." He looked up at her, then scrambled to his feet, and got in, still shivering. They were still for a moment, and then Temari felt his arms lock loosely around her waist,

"S-s-sorry b-but, I'm just t-too c-c-cold," He apologized. She was a little surprised, but she didn't complain. His arms were cold, and the bed was warm, so he was acting like an ice pack for her.

Temari tried to get back to sleep, but she was only becoming wider and wider-awake. She pulled the duvet up to their necks, and tried counting sheep. She never did understand how this was supposed to help. Was it supposed to bore you till you couldn't stand any more? As she lay there, she felt Shikamaru's hands slowly stroke her sides. This made her feel odd; she loved the sensation, but knew he was only doing this in his sleep. His right arm stopped stroking her side, and moved up to her face. He slowly moved his fingers along her jaw line, then back up along her cheek. She felt him lean forward, and begin to kiss up and along her neck again. She loved every moment, but it hurt too much, knowing that he was unaware of what he was doing. She had to stop him before he took things too far, before she couldn't bare any more. She rolled over to face him, and found herself only an inch away from his face. His low, deep breathing cooled her face. He was still quite cold, but was sleeping soundly. Temari expected nothing less from the laziest ninja in the world. He shivered once, and his eyes half opened. Temari blushed and tried to move away but he pulled her in closer; her lips now less than a centimeter away from his,

"Temari," He breathed, "I won't let those bears hurt you; I won't let anyone hurt you. I'd rather run around the world solving riddles before I saw you hurt. Even if it's a lot of work." He appeared to still be half asleep, so Temari didn't know how to react. She just stayed silent, and laid her head against his chest. His heart was beating quite fast. Anymore and he would wake up.

Shikamaru had warmed up by now. He unconsciously pulled of his shirt and flung it to the side. This startled Temari. She couldn't tell him to put it back on without waking him, and he deserved to get some sleep. She was wide awake now, and wanting nothing but to fall asleep again, but Shikamaru pulled her back when she tried to move away again, and she was forced against his now warm body. His chest was not overly muscled, but smooth and quite hard. His strong arms held Temari against him, and she was still stunned by what was happening. She was running out of options, and she was far too hot to sleep now, so she had no choice but to get out of the bed, and sleep on the floor.

The next morning, Shikamaru woke to find himself lying in topless in Temari's bed. He pondered this for a moment, but then vaguely remembered getting in the bed because he was cold. He wasn't cold anymore though. He felt like a radiator, emitting heat. He was wondering where Temari was when he sat up, and saw something in the corner of the room that made him almost cry out. Temari was lying on her side, still fast asleep, but shivering violently, where he had been shivering the night before. He got out of the bed and was about to pick her up to carry her back to it, when she opened her eyes,

"Shi- Shikamaru?"

"Silly! Why did you get out of the bed? It was minus four degrees last night!"

"M-M-M-Minus Four?" She looked up at him, clearly worried. He didn't want to frighten her, but he was so angry at himself, wondering what he must have done to make her get out of the bed, and saw how cold she looked. He pulled her into a tight embrace,

"I'm so sorry!" He almost shouted over her shoulder, "It's all my fault. I wanted to protect you by staying in this room but now I've made you freeze. I don't know what else I've done, but please forgive me." He was on all fours now, bowing in front of her, feeling overwhelmed by guilt. He felt his eyes well up with water. He really didn't want to cry, and this was the third time in recent years. Once over Choji, once over Asuma, and now Temari. What was the world coming to? He thought as the guilt slowly ran down his face in the form of tears. He didn't want Temari to see, so he didn't let go. He just held her there, as he cried silently. The only difference with these tears was that previously, he had thought that someone had died, and that he was to blame, for not having better leadership skills. This time, she was not dead yet. He would not let that happen to her. He was not quite sure why, but he couldn't bare the thought, after making her so scared, and allowing her to freeze silently on the floor.


	15. Chapter 15

Temari was terribly confused, but if Shikamaru was going to do this when he was actually awake, and aware, then she would not complain. Besides, she was freezing and needed the warmth. She didn't mean to make him worry, and she was sure that he didn't mean to hurt her, but she felt guilty for not being able to explain. She tried to think of a way to cheer him up,

"Hey, Shikamaru? We can go down for breakfast soon, and we can all have our favorite dishes. By then the bears should have been cleared out of our rooms, and we could sneak into Kakashi's room and see why he didn't want us to see."

Temari's attempt made Shikamaru look up. He wiped the tears away with his arm,

"Yeah, you're right." He pulled back and smiled at her. After a pause he added,

"I wonder if Kakashi eats cheese for breakfast?" That made Temari laugh. It was probably dairy products around the clock.

After hearing that Kakashi had had a lock installed on his bedroom door, they decided to explore the mansion a little before going to rehearse in the studio. Shikamaru let Temari lead the way. She took them straight up to the ninth floor, telling Shikamaru that the exercise would do him good, and then they she lead him down a corridor lined with windows. Shikamaru's face brightened, at the view out of them. He could see the clouds passing by, but he could also see the real view out of the mansion – mostly anyway, it still looked very halloweeny – and stopped to gaze out across the landscape. There was nothing but trees from miles around, the odd mountain in the far distance. It was quite different to Konoha. Instead of grassy fields, there were rocks everywhere, with the odd tree creeping up in-between.

The minutes of silence passed by, then Temari gave in and decided not to put off rehearsals any longer. They went down to the studio; amazed they could remember the way. Temari put on the headset, and played the demo one more time. She was getting a more and more nervous, worried of Shikamaru's reaction, not sure what he would think, and worried if she would loose focus and ruin it. After the demo ended, she looked over at Shikamaru, who straightened up his posture under her gaze. She looked back to the music, then pushed the 'play' button and closed her eyes,

"Me o tojite, naito gurowin  
Yobiokosu, ano kioku

Kogoeru kuchibiru kande  
Futari kata o yoseau…"

When she was finished with the whole song. She turned to look at Shikamaru, nervous of what his reaction might be.

Said Lazy ninja, was slumped on the floor with his jaw hanging wide open,

"REALLY TEMARI! The way you carried on the other day I would have thought you were no good… but honestly!"

"I'm not that bad…"

"BAD?"

"Oh come on! Your exaggerating too much."

"Temari! I-" He couldn't think of a way to describe it. He was at a complete lost for words. He had thought her singing was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. He didn't want to say that though, far too troublesome. Instead he got up and went over to her. He was still trying to think of what to say when he got there. She looked up at him bamboozled,

"What? You gonna tell me how rubbish I soun-" She trailed off, as Shikamaru had cupped her face in his right hand and kissed he forehead,

"You sounded… amazing. I- I've never heard something so…" He forced the word out, "Lovely,"

Temari's mouth slowly opened, in sync with her eyebrow raising. Had Shikamaru just… complimented her? WELL? She blinked at him, as her mouth closed, and eyebrows relaxed,

"You… are… joking right?"

"No."

"Okay then…" She pinched her self, "Ita!" Shikamaru grabbed her hand,

"Your not dreaming either." He stated for her. She was flabbaghasted.


	16. Chapter 16

Shikamaru was in pain. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was, how he was feeling; but he did not fully understand it himself. He went to sit back down again to listen to her singing again.

When rehearsals were over and they had eaten lunch, Temari announced that she was going to go for a swim. Her head was full of confusion and she wanted to relax in a pool of some description. Shikamaru was not pleased to hear this, as he would have to stay outside the door to the room, and not be able to guard her from the inside.

When they found the room, Temari went off through a door to the left to undress, while Shikamaru took off his shoes and jacket and sat by them next to the door the door. This would give him some good time to think things through. He decided to sort each problem out one at a time. Their first, immediate problem was the bears. Once Kakashi had done his investigating this, they would put an end to that. Then he would worry about making things right with Temari again,

"Oooo!" He heard Temari call from the other side of the door. This was followed by some splashing sounds,

"What?" He called back, wondering what was so strange,

"Milk! I'll be Gaara's gourd that Kakashi's behind this." That made Shikamaru laugh. Swimming in milk. Either Kakashi had found this place first, or the Lord of the mansion had strange taste. This was probably all a part of the efforts to entertain him.

As Shikamaru waited, he thought about the bears, and where they might be coming from. Kichi and Ichinose had no clue as to the source of the problem, and Tenjou had also denied there being a bear on the boat before they set sail. They had yet to meet the Lord of the manner yet, and this all seemed very strange. Just then, he heard Temari scream,

"What's wrong?"

"T-The-There's something moving… in under the surface."

"It's probably just a jet."

"It's far too big! And it wasn't there before. Ah!" She shrieked. Then there was silence,

"Temari?" Shikamaru called. There was no reply. He got up, and opened the door a bit. The pool appeared empty, but then he saw Temari's head come up for air, gasping. She then appeared to be dragged back down,

"Temari!" Shikamaru called. He ran over to the pool, and saw the rough shape of Temari, and a large bear below the surface. He could just dive in, but he had to deal with the bear, and being unable to see would not help. Instead, he ran to the side, and found a large rope knife in the pool store cupboard. He then ran back to the pool and jumped in where the bear's head was. He then sliced the bear's head off.

He swam around trying to find Temari. He surfaced a few times but couldn't find her. She must have sunk to the bottom he thought. He took in a deep breath, and then dived down low into the blood stained milk. He felt around for her as he went, but he did not find her until he reached the very bottom. The pool was four meters deep, so by the time he had dragged them both back to the surface, he was gasping for air. Temari was unconscious, and he could see that her shoulder, and probably other places were bleeding. The bear must have also had difficulty seeing in the pool, let alone breathing. Had it just appeared there too? He would have to bring his weapons everywhere with him now. He hadn't brought them here because he didn't expect them to attack during the day. He hated himself for making such an assumption.

Temari slowly came around. She held onto Shikamaru, but she hurt all over,

"M-My leg," She moaned,

"It's alright now; the bears dead. Sorry Temari, I should have come sooner." She had her arms around his waist, but she suddenly realized she had no clothes on,

"Oh!" She let go. Shikamaru almost lost her under the surface again then. He caught her arm to stop her falling any further, then pulled her back so that he could put one arm around her back. He swam to the side of the pool, and then wondered how he was going to go about getting her out. She was in real pain, but he couldn't just carry her out of the pool. Her leg and shoulder were hurt badly. He closed his eyes, and then lifted her onto the pool's edge. He got out of the pool, eyes still closed, then looked straight ahead, and walked past her without looking at her. He went to grab a towel, and then walked back into the room, eyes closed again,

"Where are you?"

"Here," She whimpered. He flung the towel to where she was, and she carefully wrapped it around herself. She told Shikamaru he could open his eyes, and then he went over and picked her up. He carried her back to her room like that, and then lay her down on the bed and went to find some bandages.


	17. Chapter 17

Shikamaru came back with some bandages and found Temari trying to sit up,

"No don't!" He rushed to her side and made her lie back down again. I'm not a med-nin, but I know how to put bandages on, there's no need to escape." He pulled her injured leg up and laid it across his lap.

While Shikamaru bandaged her leg, Temari looked at him puzzled. What had come over him? He wasn't usually this caring, but recently he had started apologizing and hugging her whenever she got hurt. He was her guard, but that service did not include sympathy or repentance when he had actually manage to rescue her three out of four times.

When Shikamaru had finished bandaging her, he took a look at her shoulder. She had been bitten in the same way her had, a few deep tooth marks in her skin. He carefully touched it with his fingers. The pain in Temari's leg clearly outdid the pain in her shoulder so much that she barely felt it. Shikamaru wondered how bad it must be. He had been bitten in the same way, and that had hurt like hell for some time. He bandaged her shoulder too, but by now she had managed to sit up again,

"No, you really must lie down, it will only make it hurt more." He tried to push her back but noticed a tear fall down her cheek,

"Wha-" He tried to ask what was wrong, but she had pulled him forward. She was now crying softly into his chest, and he had to put his arms around her so that she wasn't using too much strength in her arms. He didn't know the exact reason she was crying, but he was sure it was his fault. She'd done well not crying since that time in the forest four days ago, and she had been in mortal danger several times since. He stroked her hair with his left hand, hoping to calm her down. Temari was a ninja, but she had never been to ninja school, she had been raised in Suna with Gaara and Kankuro, her younger brothers. Despite this, she was still disappointed in herself for breaking down so easily. She never usually did this. She was tough, and usually a lot more violent, especially with Kankuro.

They sat like that for a while, before Temari pulled back and wiped her eyes. Shikamaru loosened his grip. He realized she was still just wearing a towel, and blushing slightly, called for a servant to fetch her clothes from the changing room, and to get rid of the bear. He then went to find Kakashi, who was now done with his investigation. He brought him back with him to Temari's room, and they all sat down on the bed. Temari was now dressed, and able to sit up properly,

"So what did you find out?" She asked Kakashi,

"Well, I looked around the whole mansion, asked various servants a few subtle questions, and had a word with the Lord,"

"The lord? You spoke with him?" Shikamaru wondered if this would be the key to finding the culprit or culprits,

"Yes, he seemed like a nice enough man, he just looked very bored. He says he doesn't know anything about the bears, as for the statues outside; they were there before he arrived. The previous owner of this mansion has an evil lord who used forbidden jutsu to control bears and make them attack any villagers who disobeyed him. The village died out as people left, and most died. The Lord then disappeared shortly afterwards, having a hatred for the ninja that beat him in a fight, and forced him to leave. That ninja was supposedly from Suna, which would explain a lot."

"Suna… but… that doesn't mean that all Suna shinobi are to blame." Temari looked hurt. If any of her comrades, friends and family got involved in this, she would hate it so much. Shikamaru's fists were clenched,

"That gives him no reason to attack Temari! Even if she is from Suna, he doesn't even know her. And how does he know where we are?"

"Well, he is supposed to have a crystal ball that allows him to see the future… I don't know if that's some legend that the Lord was told for entertainment, or if it was true, but everything else we've heard makes perfect sense. Personally I would not place my bet on it but it does fit the bill, otherwise he would not have known when you would be at a certain place in a certain time."

"Right. It's a bit far fetched but I'll go with it." Shikamaru sighed.

- Meanwhile -

Somewhere within the depths of the mansion, someone who hated Suna, was plotting away,

"That damn Konoha kid, he keeps foiling all my attacks. Bears are hard to capture. I'll have to make the final move soon. This should do the trick. He made some hand signs,

"Taju kuma kuro sokushi no jutsu!" And hundreds of bears appeared before him,

"Man, that's half of my private stash gone, I'll have to get more after this."


	18. Chapter 18

That night, Shikamaru reluctantly got into Temari's bed with her, he would face the other way so that there was little risk of him doing anything that he would regret. It was not till around four in the morning that Shikamaru woke to hear something growling deeply beside him. The bear had put its front paws on the edge of the bed, and was sniffing at Temari. This woke her up too. Shikamaru had to cover her mouth to muffle her scream. The bear suddenly lunged at her with its front right paw. Temari shrieked, as Shikamaru's hand left her mouth, and he went to cover her from the bear's attack. He was clawed straight along his back, making him let out a cry in pain. He reached for his kunai, which he had deliberately put in his pocket, and pulled it out. He was about to swing it at the bear but it had already picked him up by the scruff of the neck with its strong jaw. It tried to fling him off of Temari, but he held onto her tight. This made his jacket rip, and as the bear spat the torn jacket to the side, Shikamaru lunged the knife at him right in the forehead. The bear collapsed.

This time, it had both him and Temari trapped underneath, and neither one of them could shift it. By now Kakashi had finally made an entrance. He yanked the bear and shoved it in the corner,

"Sorry I took so long, I woke up, but then wasn't sure what was going on. I had to think about it before I heard Temari scream… then I had to get dressed, put my mask on… you know." Temari and Shikamaru's faces paled. Get dressed? He slept with no clothes on? Not even his mask. They were both distracted by this, but only for a short while, but then Kakashi left, and they went back to sleep. Shikamaru did anyway; he was pleased with himself for not letting Temari get hurt, even if he had got his back clawed up. He hoped it wouldn't leave a scar.

Temari on the other hand, was not so satisfied with how that had gone. She blamed herself for letting that happen to Shikamaru, she was stupidly injured from earlier, and unable to protect herself now. If only she had not asked to do something as silly as go for a swim on her own, then none of this would have happened. She looked at the marks on Shikamaru's back. She wondered if there was any way she could make him feel better, knowing he probably blamed himself for this like he had before. These were not the first times that Shikamaru and Temari had had to rely on each other. There was the mission to retrieve Sasuke, when Temari saved Shikamaru who was an inch away from death, and the mission to save Gaara's apprentice, where Shikamaru had saved her from another wind user.

She was finally drifting off to sleep, when she felt something wet on her face. It gave a loud, deep sniff, and roared at her,

"Another one!" She cried. Then she looked around the room, "And another! Oh! And several more!" She jostled Shikamaru's shoulder,

"What is it?"

"More bears!"

"What?" He sat up and looked around the room, he swore loudly when he saw all the bears in front of them. He got his kunai again, and skewered the nearest bear. This distracted the others. He and Temari then pelted for the door. They just made it out into the corridor, only to be surrounded by more bears. They then saw Kakashi leave his room, unfazed by the experience,

"More out here? Ah well, better get rid of you too," Kakashi said as he put his book down and took out all the bears with his chidori. They all met in the middle of the hall,

"Why are there so many?" Temari asked, still a little dazed,

"I don't know, I think this is it, we'll have to find out where their coming from, and who the source of this evil is," They headed off down the corridor to find Kichi, taking down more bears that appeared as they went, Shikamaru at the back, Kakashi leading the way, and Temari looking out sideways in the middle. They made their way down stairs, and along the corridor that lead to the dining room, and found Kichi in the kitchen defending himself and the other servants against the bears,

"Shika chan, Tema chan Kaka chan! We have to go and protect the Lord! If he gets killed by one of these bears…"

"Protect the Lord? Oh that's right, how are we going to get there fast enough?"

"Ichi chan is with him, he can protect him until then."

"Ichi chan? Oh you mean Ichinose, can he fight?" Shikamaru asked,

"Yup! Ichi chan is very talented, he can use earth and wind elements to make sand storms and boulders out of thin air. Isn't that cool?"

"Yes Kichi, now lets go and find him," Kakashi suggested. They all went and set off down the hallway, Kichi now leading the way, as Kakashi had only been there once. When they finally made it to the lord's door, they entered to find him in the corner, Ichinose fending off the constantly re-appearing bears. There was a growing pile of them on the floor. At that moment, when they had all entered the room, the door slammed shut, and manic laughing could be heard, echoing all around the room, Shikamaru took a deep breath,

"This is it guys,"


	19. Chapter 19

"Finally, revenge!" Came the voice amongst the manic laughter. A man then slowly appeared before them, astride a large armored bear, his face was covered with a black metal mask, and he was wearing black armor with golden ridges and a purple cape. He drew a sword, and then charged forwards.

Temari dodged, and the bear swung around to face her again. The newcomer thrust his sword at her, but missed, then lunged it again, and almost cut off her arm. Kakashi had blocked the sword with his chidori, which made a small crack in the sword,

"Futile! Your puny assaults will not harm me!" Came the stranger's voice from behind the mask,

"Who are you?" Kakashi asked, as he took down the bear with his Chidori,

"Ah! My mount, guess I'll have to face you properly."

"Answer the question!" Kakashi insisted, but the stranger just laughed. He tried to attack Temari again, which took her by surprise. Shikamaru blocked the sword this time with his Kunai. He caught the stranger in his shadow possession justsu, but the man easily freed himself. They wondered how he did this. Temari swung her fan at him, but when it made contact with him, it simply bounced back off. He seemed to have some sort of barrier up. Then Kakashi thought about the crack in his sword. If the sword was the cause of the barrier, then he just had to break the sword. He attacked again with chidori,

"Usele- Oh!" The stranger called out in surprise. He had expected a direct attack, but Kakashi had attacked his sword full on. The sword broke in two, and clattered to the ground,

"Ah, I see I am going to have to kill you in a far slower, more painful way." A wide manic grin grew on the strangers face. He flung his head back and raised his arms, "Come forth! My minions of death!" As he said this, bears appeared all around him,

"We have to break his curse on the bears!" Shikamaru ordered, "Then they should hopefully disappear."

"And how do we do that?" Temari enquired,

"Kill him?" Shikamaru suggested,

"Right then Shika chan! Lets get him!" Kichi enthusiastically charged forward, and then let out a shot of red green fire at the stranger. This blasted away all the bears in the vicinity. They all stared at Kichi, "Sorry everyone, I was pretending I was kinda harmless… Well I am usually, but I have to protect the Lord you know? Now Kaka chan, can you attack him with your chidori again?" Kichi looked curiously up at Kakashi,

"Got ya" He said, before attacking the stranger, no longer surrounded by bears. He penetrated the stranger's amour, leaving a deep cut in his chest. He staggered for a while,

"NO! My revenge must be completed!" He made eye contact with the lord, then charged at him, eyes aflame,

"Nuh uh, you're staying down." Kichi faced turned around and kicked the stranger as he spun around. The Stranger was knocked over backwards. Kakashi removed his kunai from him, then stabbed him in the heart, to make sure he stayed dead, "Now we can find out who dis guy is!" Kichi walked over to him. They all looked at each other. Shikamaru pulled the mask off of the stranger's head. Shikamaru and Temari gasped. The others turned to look at them. Shikamaru and Temari knew this man. They had thought that he was trust worthy. He was also their ride home,

"Tenjou…"


	20. Chapter 20

Tenjou was buried in the mansion grounds, by all the bears that had recently been sent there. Now all that was left, was for Temari to sing for the Lord.

Temari built up confidence in her singing, by singing in front of Shikamaru, Kakashi, Kichi, and Ichinose, all at once. They all loved it, but on the final day of rehearsal, Temari wanted to practice alone again, with the acceptation of Shikamaru. He knew there were no more bears, but he still did not want to leave Temari unguarded.

Temari was practicing the song for the seventh time that evening, when there was a low rumbling sound,

"Have you not eaten enough?" She teased Shikamaru,

"No, I ate well, and this noise is getting louder. He stared at her, as her eyes widened, and they both realized what was happening. There was no time to think, no time to escape. Shikamaru just dived.

When Temari opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that she was still alive. Everything was dark though,

"Are you – alright?" Shikamaru wheezed as he held up the rubble above them,

"Shikamaru!" Temari cried. She realized he was holding up the entire ceiling with his back. He then relaxed, as the last rock fell into place, and the cave that had formed around them now supported itself.

"What do we do now?" Asked Temari, "It, It's completely surrounded us."

"I know, and the oxygen we have won't last very long. Don't panic though, it will use it up faster,"

"That's easy for you to say!" Temari said, trying not to panic but failing.

The temperature in the room was steadily dropping, and no one had come to rescue them yet. It would be a miracle if someone had heard the crash, and it would take a while for help to arrive. The two ninja sat under the rubble in the tight space available, and tried not to breathe too much. As the temperature continued to decline in warmth, Shikamaru reached up and put his arm around Temari, pulling her towards him,

"It'll be alright, someone will come." He tried to comfort her,

"I, I, Please don't do that."

"Do what?"

"That." She moved his arm back to where it had been. She loved the feeling, but she knew he was only trying to keep them warm, and that hurt her,

"Sorry, I'm only trying to keep us warm."

"I know,"

"Then what's the problem?"

"Uhhh… "

"Do I… Do I make you feel uncomfortable?" Shikamaru braved the question. Temari decided this was a good time to explain herself,

"Shikamaru, you don't make me feel uncomfortable. It's just that I- I like you, and if you don't feel the same way, then it hurts when you get close like tha-" Shikamaru had pulled Temari into his arms, and was now kissing her passionately. She did not resist. If he really wanted this, when he was fully awake, and she was not dreaming, then Temari would not complain. He gently ran his fingers through her hair, and pressed his lips to hers, varying the pressure. Temari put her arms around his waist and found herself on top of him, with nothing else on her mind but his warm, loving lips. Nothing could have comforted her more. They were running out of oxygen, and the rubble could cave in on them at any moment, but right at that time, they didn't care.

Shikamaru lay back, and Temari had her head against his chest. He was in sheer bliss, but then they heard movement. The rubble was moving. It was the end.


	21. Chapter 21

Temari would have screamed if it weren't for her current joy. She wanted more, but she was satisfied. She did not want Shikamaru to die though, and so as the noisy rubble began to move, she panicked. She clung to Shikamaru, who was now sitting up again, holding on tightly to Temari. It was all going to end, and he cared too much about Temari to let her die now. He didn't see what he could do though, and the rubble was really shaking now.

That was it. A brief ray of sunlight fell into the darkness, and lit up their world. This only blinded them for a few short moments though, as Kakashi's face loomed into view,

"Hey there, hope I'm not too late." He looked like he was grinning at them, but it was always hard to tell with that mask of his. The two shinobi were stunned. They had thought that they were about to die, and now this. Shikamaru yelled at him for taking so long, but Temari stayed silent. She was smiling now though. She looked around the room, but was interrupted from this as Gaara and Kankuro ran towards them,

"Temari! I thought I told you to stay safe." Gaara complained to Temari in his almost monotone growling voice,

"Sorry Gaara, but what are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" Kankuro prodded at her, "We're here to save you. This is one hell of a large place, of course it took a while to get here, and then there was all this rubble."

"We received a message from Kakashi about the bear incident so I came here to err…" Gaara trailed off,

"What he means is, he was worried so we came to check on our big sis." Kankuro smiled. Gaara blushed slightly. To distract himself, he turned to the beaten up looking Konoha shinobi in front of him,

"Thank you for looking after Temari, the important thing is that she is safe, and I think she would have been crushed by that rubble if you hadn't been there."

"Ah- well… " Temari clonked him lightly on the head with her fan,

"Nara here –" she pointed at him with her thumb, "is the laziest most ignorant ninja alive. He's also the stupidest."

"Witch-" He began, but received a hard thump from the fan this time.

* * *

Author note:

Well thats it for this fanfic :) please let me know what you thought of it, and I have posted a poll on what anime couple I should write about next. Critique is much appreciated and I will reply as soon as possible x

Thanks for reading, and my next fanfic is on it's way, (currently in the middle of writing my second one). Please check it out when it's uploaded, it's a SougoxKagura Gintama fanfic!


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